[center][b]April 1st, 2020
Hub City Country and Polo Club[/b][/center]

Tim always found it a little hard to believe that there was a part of Hub City where you could tear around a field on horseback just for fun without the risk of accidentally trampling some hobo looking for a place to sleep, but then again the armed guards out front probably had something to do with it. The whole thing made Tim feel pretty uneasy and reflective whenever he entered the place, considering it was a pretty solid reminder of how weird and lucky his whole life was that parts of it had to be backed up by guards visibly packing heat.

That feeling usually faded pretty fast though, considering Tim had been coming here for as long as he could remember and some of the staff here had even known his father when he was Tim's age. Beside, Tim liked Polo a lot. Sure, it was the ultimate rich boy sport so it meant getting matched up with some of the more obnoxious kids from school and dressing like even more of a dweeb to ride, but it was also riding around on horses while hitting stuff with a hammer and that was undeniably awesome. Plus, it had good food. So all in all even if by the end of the day he was usually too worn out to move, Tim really liked going there.

[b]"Son, I need to talk to you about some things..." [/b]

Except on days when his Dad used it as a staging ground to start conversations he was uncomfortable with. Then he definitely hated it. He was too tired to really argue or be evasive since they were sitting down at a table after more than half an hour's worth of chukkers, probably just as planned.

[b]"Look, it's about all the fights you've been getting into.[/b]

"Dad this is a crappy April Fools' joke-"

[b]"-Not my worst, but before you say anything else I want you to listen. Just think about the kind of people we are, the way we raised you. My love of a good lawyer joke aside, part of why I love your mother is that she's probably one of the last honest lawyers in the whole city. She believes in justice coming from something more important than your fists and you know that already. At my job, what people choose to say and when and how they choose to say it, well that makes or breaks just about everything. The power and value of words, reasoning and truth are important to this family. What I'm trying to say is if you see something really bad happening, I only want you resorting to violence when everything else fails." [/b]

"If you didn't want me to fight, how come you had me learn how? If I can stop something [i]right now[/i] shouldn't I do it?"

[b]"You were supposed to learn to protect yourself, not beat up kids whose parents should be doing a better job. I had you take the sort of lessons you did because the world is a big, unpredictable place with even more unpredictable people in it, this city especially and I want you prepared for the worst outcomes. But I also want you to try for the [i]best[/i] outcomes."[/b] 

Tim just kept quiet, irritated at being sermonized at but not really able to find anything to disagree about. 

[b]Anyways, letcturing agitates my sweet-tooth. Lemme see if they got any new cake in, or maybe some ice cream."[/b]

"Aren't you supposed to be watching your blood sugar?"

"What your mom and my pre-diabetes don't know won't hurt either of them. Besides ya gotta live while you can, kiddo!" 

Tim couldn't help smiling and decided that was one thing they could agree on for now.